My Own
by K-K-Girl
Summary: In the Japanese version, Yubaba tells Haku to look after Chihiro. so so he, like, owns her, or what? see title?
1. Getting Sick

A/N: okay, I have to many stories to update. I really shouldn't post any more, not until I get them finished, but oh! I couldn't resist this one!  
  
Disclaimer: no own.  
  
Summery: in the Japanese version, Yubaba instructs Haku to look after Chihiro. In other words, she gave her to him to do with as he pleased. It was a contract, yes? SO, I decided to write from there!  
  
Genre: to be decided  
  
Rating: to be decided  
  
Chapters: I'll put up how many chapters I "think" I'll have after I finish this. :D ha, what a stinker.  
  
Third Person POV  
  
This takes place starting where Yubaba calls Haku. Okay?  
  
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"This girl signed a contract, look after her." Yubaba instructed.  
  
"Hai." He turned his head slightly. "What's your name?"  
  
"Chihi - oh. It's Sen." She said, barely catching herself in time.  
  
"Alright then, Sen; follow me."  
  
Like a good girl, she followed him down the halls and to the elevator. There was nothing but silence between the two before Chihiro figured it'd be better to talk then go crazy.  
  
"Haku, um," she started, but he cocked his head at her and frowned.  
  
"No idle chatter." He looked back up. "and call me Master Haku."  
  
Surprised and hurt, Chihiro looked down. What had happened to him? He had seemed so nice! He had said he was her friend.  
  
Why was he so mean all of a sudden? She bit her quivering bottom lip.  
  
They got off the elevator, and walked down a quiet hall, in silence. Haku exhaled and leaned against a door - the door to his room -, brow furrowed in thought as he crossed his arms.  
  
He had expected Yubaba to tell him to simply set her up with a job. He was supposed to look after her? Was Yubaba planning something? There was definitely a gleam in her eye when she had said it. look after her. Did she expect him to watch her and do her tasks for him at the same time? That would prove difficult. He wasn't about to do that. Maybe he could leave her with Kamajii? No, that wouldn't work. Rin? Maybe. She could work as Rin's assistant, so that way he could keep an eye on her. Ah, then he saw the flaw in that plan - the girls would just love to stab Chihiro in the back while she slept. Rin would have to be her baby-sitter for Haku. Fine.  
  
"H- Haku?"  
  
He glanced at her, standing there obediently, hands unconsciously trying to rip her shirt apart. She seemed scared. He didn't blame her - he had larger fish to fry, though.  
  
"What now? "she asked, voice cracking.  
  
No, she wasn't scared. She was terrified. He felt a pang of guilt, and reached out, gently brushing her cheek. She started slightly and he shook his head.  
  
She had a fever.  
  
Wonderful. It was test. He would have to look after her, and be a good boy and do his chores, and stay loyal and keep his composure.  
  
Ah. Perfect. Yup, that was very much like  
  
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, dropping his hand. She looked down, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.  
  
It was a moment before she answered. "......... Memai ga shimasu," she murmured softly. "I feel faint."  
  
Haku shook his head disdainfully. He had work to do right now. "You'll be fine after you get some rest," he said. "follow me." again, they started off, and many stopped and stared as he led her through the bathhouse. He took her to the department that Rin was in.  
  
"I don't care if Yubaba gets angry with us," one said. "we can't take Humans."  
  
"We're not taking her in our department."  
  
"Yeah, she'll stink up the whole place!"  
  
"WE don't want her."  
  
"She's already under contract," Haku interrupted coldly. He DID have work to do, and it should be done.  
  
"I promise to work very hard," Chihiro put in, voice strained slightly. Her hands - fists - were placed firmly to her stomach.  
  
After a bit of arguing, Haku finally flicked his hair out of his face and scowled. He was late as it was.  
  
"Listen," he said firmly. "If she doesn't work hard... roast her. Boil her. Do whatever you like. NOW GET BACK TO WORK! Where is Rin?"  
  
"What? "Rin demanded, jerking straight from her position at a door. "don't you dump her on me!"  
  
"You *said* you wanted an assistant."  
  
"That's perfect! Give the girl to Rin!"  
  
Haku looked over his shoulder at Chihiro, who was watching him with an expression he couldn't read. "Sen, get going."  
  
"Yes Sir!" she yelped, jumping slightly and then scurrying over to Rin.  
  
"What a pest, you owe me one, do you hear, Haku?" Rin demanded as Haku clenched his fists and walked away.  
  
"Have a nice day!" one of the men put in.  
  
Rin grumbled as she left, turned back to grab Sen, then continued on her way. Once out of earshot, she whipped around with a grin.  
  
"You did it! huh, you're such a dope, I was really worried! Now, keep on your toes, and if you need anything ask me, kay?"  
  
"o... okay."  
  
"What's wrong? Do you feel okay?"  
  
"I don't feel so good..."  
  
"Don't worry," Rin said as she led her to her room, clicking on the light and rummaging through the closet thing. "some chow and some rest, and you'll feel fine. Now this is your apron, you have to wash it yourself, your trousers... hmm. You're so puny." She held up a shirt. "why too big."  
  
"Uh, Rin-san?" Chihiro asked after a moment softly.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You know Haku?"  
  
"What about 'im?"  
  
"Um... there aren't two of them, are there?"  
  
"Two Hakus? I can barely stand one of them," she held up another shirt. "too big." She threw it away. "He's Yubaba's henchman, don't trust anything he says. Now where is that - aha! Here it is!" she held up the smallest pink shirt there was proudly, then looked down and noticed Chihiro crouched, trembling.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked.  
  
"What's going on, why all the racket?" one girl that had been sleeping asked, turning over.  
  
"It's the new girl, she doesn't so good."  
  
"That's a human!" the only other slug-spirit announced. "gross! Don't help her, Rin!"  
  
"Why not? Don't you feel sorry for her?"  
  
"No, of course not! She'd be better dead!" the other replied, standing up fully. She rummaged through her things for something. "I can make a quick, clean cut, you know. Get her out of the way." She pulled out a knife.  
  
Chihiro looked up, choked a little bit, and buried her face in her new clothes, crying. She fell forward to her knees and arched her back, holding her stomach.  
  
"Don't do that!" Rin cried.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"She's under contract! She'd under Haku's protection, too, and it wouldn't do any good to piss him off, now, would it?"  
  
Chihiro groaned.  
  
"Then why doesn't she sleep in Haku's room, then, huh? He usually stays here on weekends."  
  
"Because maybe she's a girl and he's a boy," Rin pointed out.  
  
"So? As if he'd do anything. She certainly won't try anything," the second replied hotly. "why'd he go and stuff her with us, huh?"  
  
"Shut up!" Rin cried and Chihiro managed to get her tears under control, wiping her face and nose with her sleeve.  
  
"No, it's okay, Rin-san," she said hoarsely. "I just don't feel so good, that's all..."  
  
"Well, try to sleep, then, okay?"  
  
"... O... okay."  
  
"Good girl. Here, I'll set you up a bedroll, next to mine."  
  
"That's sick, Rin! Sleeping next to the Human!" the first said.  
  
"Go stick it up where the sun don't shine," Rin replied, setting out a bedroll for Chihiro against the wall, next to hers. "Here you go, Sen. Come on, get changed into your apron, hup-hup!"  
  
Chihiro came over, bent double slightly, and Rin helped her struggle into her apron. Okay, in you go," Rin told her, holding open the blanket. Chihiro slipped in, curling into a ball under the covers and closing her eyes tightly as tears came back.  
  
"I'll have to throw these away later," Rin murmured, setting Chihiro's human clothes aside.  
  
"Ugh, we'll do it," the first said, finding a stick.  
  
"Yeah, who wants to be in the same room as that smelly human anyway?" the second put in, also finding a stick. Together, they managed to carry the clothes out. They disappeared from sight.  
  
"You'll have to excuse them," Rin said, sighing. "you'll be getting that reaction a lot here, but don't worry, I'll be sleeping right next to you." she reached out at Chihiro's choked "hai" and rested her hand on her forehead. She jumped slightly.  
  
"You're burning up!" she cried. "bad fever!"  
  
"g- guess," Chihiro mumbled.  
  
"Spirits don't usually get sick," Rin told her. "you didn't seem this way before when I took you to Yubaba." She frowned, then groaned. "oh yeah, I forgot; Humans aren't immune to any kind of illnesses here, and they're so much more easier to catch them." She frowned. "you're so frail. Probably got something from the Radish Spirit, or maybe you ate something..." she shook her head. "I'll get you some water, hold on."  
  
Chihiro didn't say anything in return other than to feel miserable. She would have to get better soon. She couldn't work - at all - if she was sick, especially contagious. What had Haku said they could do to her if she didn't work hard? Roast, boil her? Do whatever they wanted.  
  
Kill her?  
  
She wouldn't put it past them, from what she had heard. Maybe Rin and/or Kamajii wouldn't, but they seemed to be the only ones.  
  
Even Haku...  
  
Chihiro drank the water she was offered, and after some convincing, Rin let her fall asleep.  
  
She dreamt:  
  
*** she was running alone, through, darkness everywhere. Voices echoed around her, screams, cries, pleas for help. She was frightened terribly, and tripped and fell. Startled she let out a tiny scream as she realized she had fallen right into a pool of blood, bright red warm blood. She screamed, or tried to, but her voice wouldn't cooperate. Then Haku was there, helping her up, smiling kindly. He supported her a ways, then let her drop. Her voice was lost to her as she fell through a great big black opening, hands, slimy bloody hands, reaching out everywhere on all sides, grabbing her, pulling her hair, ripping at her skin and clothes, Haku's face above her smirking cruelly, she was being ripped apart... ***  
  
she gave a short scream, jerking upright, then falling down again, miserable. Her stomach ached terribly, from just beneath her ribs to just at her hips, her entire stomach. She felt slightly dizzy, and, well, sick. There were plenty of slug-spirits - those girls that wanted her dead, didn't like her smell - all scrunched together, sleeping, snoring. Rin was next to her ask well. Biting her lip Chihiro tried to sit up, but flopped back down when her stomach informed her she would throw up if she did that again and her dizziness increased, from her sitting up too fast.  
  
She was going to be sick.  
  
Biting back a groan, she tried sitting up again, slower this time. Her dizziness didn't knock her over, though she was a little unsteady, and her stomach was now sure of itself that it would get rid of its contents. Her scream hadn't woken anybody up, thank the highest spirit, but the dream flashed through her mind, and she felt sick even more. Afraid of what to do, she reached over and shook Rin until she woke up a little with a tiny yet annoyed yawn.  
  
"What's wrong?" she whispered.  
  
"I'm going to be sick," Chihiro whispered back.  
  
"Wrap up in a blanket," Rin hissed, then proceeded to give Chihiro directions to the nearest bathroom.  
  
So, in her apron and blanket, Chihiro stumbled away down to look for the bathroom.  
  
She found it, thanks to Rin's great way of describing things ("to the left of this ugly carrot statue that has a nick in the top right corner of it and makes you want to barf...") and collapsed at a toilet, quickly ridding her stomach of its contents.  
  
Only feeling even more miserable then before, Chihiro washed her mouth out thoroughly, then got a little drink of water. She leaned against a wall for support, as she was again struck with an aching dizziness. Groaning softly, she massaged her temples while sitting in a crouch, then gathered her blanket about her and stumbled out. Deciding that she would only fall down if she took the stairs, Chihiro found an elevator - not knowing which one it was, really - and went up. Down a quiet hallway that seemed semi- familiar.  
  
She stopped at a dead end, and paused. Could have sworn this was the hallway.  
  
Somewhat disoriented, Our Heroine paused, leaning against a wall cradling her forehead as another wave of dizziness swept over her. She was beginning to feel sick again.  
  
After a few deep breaths, she could look up again, and for a moment she listened to the soft snoring in the rooms around her. Discouraged, she began to walk slowly back to the elevator, running her hand along the wall of doors.  
  
One of them was open, she noticed. It didn't sound as though anybody was occupying the room, and though Chihiro knew very well she would most likely get in trouble, that throwing up on somebody's floor would be very, very bad, that curiosity killed the cat... well, curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction DID bring him back. Right? Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought him back.  
  
Besides, she concluded after a few moments of listening, nobody was in there. Not that she could here - no breathing, not audibly. She wanted to know... bad girl, she mentally thought.  
  
Then she walked forward and carefully pulled the door open even more, peering inside. There was an occupant.  
  
On a medium bed (it was a medium room) on top of the covers... no, the covers had been kicked back. It was Haku. He was curled, facing the door (and Chihiro) shirtless. His arms were crossed against his chest, both clasped in fists, and one knuckle was pressed against his bottom lip, mouth slightly open so that his top teeth were slightly visible. His hair was in total disarray, and he looked overheated, uncomfortable, almost childish. Innocent, was the word to describe what he looked like. Almost scared. His breathing was so soft that he made no noise, didn't seem to move.  
  
She froze there, unsure of what to do.  
  
She didn't want to leave, he looked as though... any suspicions were confirmed when he let out a very un-Haku-like whimper, so soft she almost didn't hear it, and kicked, thrashing for a moment before settling on his stomach, one arm still crossed beneath his chest, the other up against his face. She saw tears - tears!  
  
Her heart melted, and ignoring her own dizziness and upset stomach, she padded carefully over and stood over him for a moment. Up closer, she found that he was breathing in short, quick gasps. He thrashed again, this time falling on his back, and the blankets at the foot of the bed got tangled up with him. This obviously didn't make his dream any better, because he said a hoarse "No! please!" and he kicked and thrashed until he was back in almost the same position Chihiro had found him in, shaking slightly. She felt awful for him.  
  
Carefully, closing the door gently behind her, she walked over and reached out and touched his shoulder in a half-hearted effort to wake him. He flinched at her touch and groaned like he was in some sort of pain, but otherwise didn't do much. Jaw clenched, Chihiro put both hands on his shoulders, giving him a good shake, pushing his body around so that he was on his back.  
  
This, of course, woke him up, and faster than Chihiro could figure out what was happening, she was on HER back on his bed, and he was above her, pinning her down by straddling her chest and both hands firmly locked around her throat. She didn't notice much of this until her dizziness swam away.  
  
"Chihiro," he hissed, sitting back and removing his fingers from where they were spasmodically clenching harder around her neck. He pushed hair that was sticking to his face with sweat back behind his ears.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
he looked rather angry, and Chihiro furrowed her brow. "I got sick, so Rin sent me to a bathroom. I guess I got lost going back, because I was in this hall and your door was open a little bit."  
  
"And you just walked in." he finished flatly. Yup, he was NOT happy.  
  
Chihiro looked up at him. He was still shaking a little bit - but not physically. For a moment she wondered how she had figured that out, then the need to answer pushed at the back of her lips. "I didn't think anybody was in here." She examined him closely for a second. "H - um - Master Haku, are you aware that you talk in your sleep?"  
  
Personally she was shocked at how quickly the color drained from his already pale face then rushed back with a vengeance. He fought it for a moment until he regained his composure.  
  
Chihiro tried to figure out why he seemed so angry with her. She had just helped him, right? So why was he sitting on her scowling?  
  
"No, I wasn't," he hissed shortly after a moment of struggling with his facial skin color. "and what was it you heard me say?"  
  
Chihiro furrowed her brow. "You just kind of whimpered and groaned, and the only thing straight I heard was 'no please' or something like that." She cocked her head slightly. "were you having a nightmare? I had one before I woke Rin up. What was it about? Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
"I don't remember," he lied smoothly. She frowned, knowing full well it was a lie.  
  
"Well, it always helps me to talk about things," she whispered at last.  
  
"You should get back to bed."  
  
"I am in bed - just not mine." She succeeded in getting a slightly more relaxed posture from him. "and I can't go until I can get up."  
  
"then get up."  
  
"You're sitting on me." she hated to be so blunt, but she really, really wanted to know what he was dreaming about.  
  
In neutral mode, Haku slid to the side, where he crossed his legs and watched her gingerly sit up, then get to her feet. She held on to the bed post for a second, trying to regain her balance. Then she leveled her gaze with him and sighed.  
  
"I know you remember," she informed him quietly, almost casually. "Why don't you just tell me about it? it'll make you feel better."  
  
"No. go back to bed."  
  
"But you were *crying*!" she explained, watching him incredulously. Why was he so cold?  
  
"No I wasn't."  
  
"yes you were." Chihiro leaned forward, reaching out and touching his upper cheek. Haku, startled, jerked away, almost losing his balance. "See, you still are a little bit, too. And you're really jumpy and scared."  
  
"I am not crying, jumpy, or scared," came the scathing reply, much louder then Haku had intended it. his back stiffened by reflex when Chihiro sat back down on his bed. He tried to think of a way to edge away from her without appearing "jumpy" or "Scared" in the least. He hunched his shoulders forward slightly, using the back of his wrist to wipe sweat - and tears - away. this girl didn't know when to give up.  
  
"Tell me about it," Chihiro insisted. "who was in it?"  
  
"None of your business."  
  
"So you DO remember!"  
  
Haku made a mental note to kill himself on a later basis.  
  
"Why won't you tell me? are you embarrassed? Is that it?"  
  
"No. go back to bed, Chihiro."  
  
"But,"  
  
"No." Haku stood up firmly and took her by the arm. The blanket around her shoulders slipped, but she didn't care. She jogged for a few moments to keep up with him until he let go, then followed him around in the moon-lit through windows darkness until he stopped at the room Rin slept in. go figure.  
  
"You and I never spoke as of yesterday." He told her in that same angry and firm tone. "understand?"  
  
"Yes sir." She walked inside and laid down back on her bed roll. With a sigh, she reached up and massaged her still aching temples. She was still dizzy, too, but she decided to dismiss it from tiredness.  
  
Haku, however, marched back to his room, locked the door, opened the window, and looked out. For a moment he relished the cool wind, then jumped out into nothingness, turning into his dragon form half way down.  
  
Might as well scout out Zeniiba's.  
  
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A/N: okay. I guess. *shrugs* 


	2. Freakin' Dreamin'

A/N: mm-kay! I didn't know that 'Jap' was some insult of some kind. *falls to knees* PLEAZE! FORGIVE ME! then again, I didn't know that calling somebody a 'burrito' was an insult either, and I learned that the hard way. *runs away dodging flying coconuts* baka, that's what I am. 'NYWAY, thank you thank you thank you for reviewing and telling me that! All of you! or both of you! or however you wanna say it! *pauses, looks at audience, then runs off screaming bloody murder* DON'T EAT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Well, okay, s'long as you start on my hair. *offers braid* been trying to get it cut for some time now, ya? lol I love kitkats... used to do anything for them... now a penpal got me hooked on these kitkat/reeses crossover things called "Fast Break" and as much as it sounds like it, those candy bars aren't diet candies. Got more calories in 'em then I have time to work 'em off in the Kibbie Dome. -_-0 must snarf more kitkats. BUT I STRAY FROM THE SUBJECT, heh, heheh, heh, ano, yeah, heh. *hold up hands* I'll stop ranting now - THIS IS A STUPID A/N YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BOTHER READING IT!! that does it. I order you to stop reading this A/N right... Now!  
  
Disclaimer: I no own.  
  
The Next Day  
  
Third Person POV  
  
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The next morning Chihiro was in better condition, but still lightheaded. Rin dismissed this as lack of food, and went to the kitchens, feeding Chihiro en bed. Wasn't that nice of her? The other girls hated this. They begrudged Rin for being so cozy to the Human. She was Haku's responsibility, not theirs, and certainly not Rin's.  
  
So, indeed feeling better after some food, Chihiro was worked from place to place. one slug spirit would call her over and order her to mop the floor, and just as she grabbed a towel, another would shout for her to get something. So in fact, Chihiro didn't really work at all that much that morning, but simply ran all over the bathhouse.  
  
By lunch time, Rin had completely taken pity on her and shouted that Haku had told HER to look after Chihiro, and therefor, Chihiro would help only HER. There was a lot of shouting and arguing over this, and five minutes later Chihiro found herself flattened up against a wall, watching all of the women workers in Rin's department fighting.  
  
This, of course, attracted attention, and pretty soon Yubaba had sent Haku down to right things out before she lost any more customers.  
  
And, to Chihiro's and any new customer's shock, Haku managed to restore order, after listening to three different sides. He eventually switched the departments all the way around, putting Rin's to tend to the guests as they came in and setting a different department in their place. this didn't last long, though, because the girls continued to insist upon making Chihiro run all over, back and forth, left and right, every which way, trying to do things right. It didn't help that she tripped and fell every five minutes, so, they were all arguing again, this time across the bathhouse completely and totally.  
  
At last, Haku told them that he would have Chihiro do something else for the remainder of the day OUTSIDE of the bathhouse if they didn't stop it.  
  
Amazingly, they managed to get along for quite a while after that.  
  
Ah, but shadow follows light and war follows peace!  
  
And Chihiro found herself wondering why Haku was leading her down away from the bath part of the bathhouse afterwards. Heh. Can you imagine why -ever- she would wonder something like that?  
  
"You seem to cause a lot of trouble wherever you go," Haku said dryly, pausing momentarily. He frowned slightly. Chihiro didn't seem to have very good balance....  
  
"Gomen Nasai," Chihiro mumbled, ducking her chin. Haku felt a small twinge of guilt, but pushed it away.  
  
"You didn't do anything," he pointed out, pushing her chin up. "This way." He turned on his heel again and headed for the kitchens. The Frogs would ignore her more likely, and it was simple enough to put a different piece of fruit in a bunch of bowels to be carried off to waiting stomachs.  
  
Even Chihiro couldn't mess *that* up, whether on accident or no.  
  
As expected, the head (frog) cook didn't like the idea of having a Human (Girl) working in his area, but when Haku described what she could simply do, he accepted (with a sigh) and told Chihiro she had better scrub her hands clean raw before he put her to work. Not that Chihiro didn't know what she was supposed to do, having heard her job description.  
  
She was a little hurt as to what Haku had assigned her, but also grateful.  
  
After (literally) scrubbing her hands clean (and raw) and they passed the frog cook's test, he pointed to numerous trays with little cup bowels on them, then to a large number of bowels filled with different (yet small) fruits of all kinds, and told her to put one piece of fruit in every bowel/cup. After he left, she found it was a quieter job, one that she didn't mind so much. At first she was slow, and once in a while a waiter had to stand around impatiently while she scurried from the fruit bowels to the empty ones and back, trying to fill a tray of bowels up. But she got the hang of it, and learned to grab a handful of fruits, therefore getting the job done faster.  
  
Later on, her job became more complicated. Such as three grapes, two strawberries, one blueberry, nine salmon berries, three small slices of banana, and one small slice of apple in one tray of bowels, and just the opposite for another. Again, this was a bit hard to get used to, but soon she had the hang of it, and no more frog waiters were standing behind her barking out orders to hurry up and wash more, she stank of human.  
  
She also found that she wouldn't go hungry, either. Whenever her empty stomach pointed out that it needed glucose, she would pop a berry into her mouth. There were many different fruits, and vegetables too, all mixed together, some that she had never seen, smelled, or tasted before in her life. After she ate one that she had never seen before (it was lumpy, dark purple, and crunchy with a burst of fruity flavor) she felt considerably more jumpier, and her dizziness, sickness, whatever lingered at the back of her mind was gone. She buzzed around for ten minutes, getting more trays done faster.  
  
She got a new tray of empty bowels, and waited patiently for another order as the effects of the berry-thing wore off. Once the slip of paper was in hand, she ate another lumpy berry thing, and buzzed around once more, giggling like an idiot as she finished even more bowel trays faster and faster.  
  
She was almost shocked that, after the last tray had been taken away, she was told to go to bed, clean up; they were closing down. Chihiro watched The Head Frog Cook (hereforth knows as Head Frog) leave, stuffed another lumpy purple dry fruity juiciness berry into her mouth, paused, giggled maniacally, and grabbed a handful each hand, stuffing them between her white shirt and pink shirt before bouncing cheerfully away. she found Rin (after getting lost a couple of times and eating over half of her Fruity berries) and Rin led her to the room, but before she entered, she was told to wash her hands and face, she was covered with berry juices.  
  
Chihiro did as told, stuffing the rest of her lumpy purple berries in her mouth and swallowing at the same time while doing so, and shot back to the room and had her bedroll out in a flash.  
  
"Aren't you tired?" Rin asked. "You look like you've just eaten half the Kikizake Berries!"  
  
"Whatarethose?" Chihiro asked back without pausing for breath. "Causeifthey'repurpleandlumpyanddryuntilyouchewthemwithablastoffruityjuicego odnessthenIatemorethanhalfofthose!"  
  
Rin stared at her. "Yes, those are Kikizake Berries, Sen" she said, all and the girls in the room burst out laughing gleefully.  
  
"SHUT UP!" Rin shouted, then sighed at Chihiro, who was now literally bouncing up and down. "Sen, ano, those berries are very poisonous if you eat as much as five at once, they can kill you."  
  
"OhsoI'mgonnadiewellthat'snotgoodi'dhatetodiebythewayit'saverybeautifulnight outsdiedon'tyouthinkiwishHakuwereheretoseeittoomaybeheisdoyouthink?" Chihiro replied, not noticing how she was now slurring slightly too.  
  
All of the other girls laughed gleefully again and Rin bit her lip. "Come on Sen, I think you'd better find a way to throw the whole lot of them up."  
  
Rin began to pull Chihiro out, and she bounced along beside her, babbling away nonstop without even pausing for breath or anything nor listening to Rin, not until she was in front of a toilet. For a while she babbled on about not needing to go, then squawked as Rin shoved two fingers down her throat, and she collapsed to her knees, ridding her stomach of the berries.  
  
Rin rubbed her back sympathetically until she was done.  
  
"Feeling a little better?" she asked softly as Chihiro groaned.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Chihiro asked, though her voice was terribly slurred. It took Rin a moment to translate it.  
  
"The berries would have hurt you very badly," Rin said. "and I think that you're still a little sick from whatever you ate before."  
  
Chihiro groaned again. She was miserable.  
  
CHIHIRO'S LIST OF TOP TEN REASONS WHY SHE CURRENTLY HATES HER LIFE:  
  
her stomach ached like a bad case of PMS.  
  
She was even more dizzy then before.  
  
Because of numbers 1 and 2, she ended up throwing up again.  
  
She was weak,  
  
Shaky,  
  
Sweating madly now,  
  
Embarrassed ,  
  
And a little hurt, not to mention sad and homesick  
  
Once laying in her bedroll with everybody snoring around her, she was even more miserable, and was struck with a strange feeling of Déjà-vu.  
  
When she finally got to sleep, she was plagued by different nightmares all including blood, Haku, and falling down into a cold blackness, so, ended up staring even more miserably at the ceiling as she was sweating even worse than before now, breathing hoarsely and shakily out her dry, raspy throat.  
  
Sighing heavily, Chihiro kicked her blankets away and waited impatiently for morning to come so that her body would wake up and she wouldn't feel so bad any more. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, and ended up in another fitful sleep. And she dreamt:  
  
*** She was a little girl again, skipping happily along with her parents, along the beach at her old home. She ran out into the roaring waves of the ocean and dived into them, swimming easily out further and further, where the water was more calm. Suddenly, something was pulling her leg down, and she was ten-years-old once more, falling down under the ocean water, watching the surface become harder and harder to see and the water around her darker and quieter and calmer and colder. Suddenly, it went completely black and icy, then blood-red and warm... it was blood! She choked, trying to swim out of it. but somebody was holding her down. She twisted and saw Haku grinning at her, holding her firmly where she was. "You belong to me, Chihiro," Her eyes grew wide as darkness took over her completely..... ***  
  
Chihiro screamed as she woke up again, eyes snapping open. She sat straight up like a bullet, then flopped back down, clutching her head and twisting into a fetal position, praying that the pain she had just put herself through would stop. It didn't dull to a simple thud in her temples and that constant ache in her stomach for quite a while, and tears slid down her cheeks from cracked eyes.  
  
"Ow-oow," she groaned, and suddenly jerked awake as a cold hand touched her gently. The sudden movement didn't help, and she was back in her before position, squeaking weakly for whoever it was to stop, make it stop.  
  
"Sen? Are you okay? Feeling any better?" Rin's voice echoed strangely, as though she were at the other end of a long dark tunnel. Chihiro cracked her eyes open once more and looked at Rin above her. "I guess not," she said, answering her own question so that Chihiro wouldn't have to open her mouth.  
  
"Here, drink some of this. I got Kamajii to put his strongest spell on it, so maybe you'll be feeling a little better. Go on, here, I'll help you sit up without knocking yourself unconscious." Rin gently eased Chihiro into a half-sitting position on her lap, and offered the tip of a goblet to the ten-year-old's lips. Despite the nasty smell, look, and taste, Chihiro swallowed the whole lot and let Rin ease her back down, covering her with more blankets, and placed a cool cloth on her forehead.  
  
"You have such a fever," she explained, chewing her lip. Chihiro turned her head slightly, looking up at her.  
  
"I feel awful, Rin-san. Did those poison berries or whatever really do all of this to me?" she asked weakly, mentally cursing herself for it.  
  
"I think that with the most you had, all they should have done was knock you fatally unconscious for a while. Maybe a small headache, but otherwise, nothing more." She sighed. "You already had a fever when you got here from the first thing you ate, I believe. What was it?"  
  
Chihiro thought hard for a moment, then stopped this as it hurt.  
  
So she thought slower, thus, Rin was quite sure that she had fallen asleep when Chihiro answered at last, opening her eyes again.  
  
"It was a red berry," she said. "Haku-sama gave it to me, otherwise I would have faded away forever, he said."  
  
Rin furrowed her brow. "Haku-sama? Shoot. Do you - can you tell me everything you remember about the red berry?"  
  
"It was small, and hard to chew, and even harder to swallow."  
  
"Well, that isn't much help. All berries here are small, hard to chew and swallow before they're ripe." She shook her head. "can you remember what it tasted like?"  
  
"Nothing, I think..."  
  
"Ah, okay." Rin stood up after switching the cloth on her forehead. "You go back to sleep, understand? I'm going to go find out what it was that you ate."  
  
"W- Wait, Rin-san! I'll get eaten if I don't work hard! Don't leave me alone!"  
  
"Don't worry, Sen. The other girls are working right now, and you're supposed to be asleep, right? Right. So, don't worry."  
  
"But-"  
  
"DON'T WORRY!"  
  
"Hai, Rin-sama."  
  
Rin smiled prettily and left. Chihiro waited for a second, then tried to think about happy sleepy things so that she wouldn't notice the aching all over and go to sleep again. However, the prospect of having a dream like that again scared her.  
  
This knowledge didn't help that Chihiro ended up falling asleep again anyway and, OF COURSE, having yet another nightmare.  
  
*** She was better again, and once more running all over hell-and-gone running errands for the other girls. After a while, Haku showed up and without anything being said, she followed him. He didn't seem to be aware that he was being followed, and so, unknowingly led Chihiro down through a tunnel she had never been aware before, through the wall next to the third floor elevator. The tunnel became darker and quieter, and the stench of blood and rotting flesh was everywhere. As they went deeper in, the walls, ceiling, and floor became cold, hard stone, and a mist seemed to settle in the growing blackness. Blood began to run from the top cracks of the walls. Still, Chihiro followed Haku. After a while, they were sloshing in the blood, and she gasped, stopping to clasp her hands over her mouth before inevitably vomiting. When she looked up again into the blackness, Haku was gone. A strange feeling of panic overtook her, and she immediately started to run. She gasped as everything went completely black, and she tripped and fell, falling face-first into the blood, falling through it, and endless bottomless ocean of it, and landed on her feet in a large cavern, candle- lit room. Chains hung on all of the walls, and skeletons, bloody corpses, decaying corpses, hung from them. A few were still alive! Fighting the bile that rose in her throat, she ran to the nearest one to try and free him - it was Haku! He didn't seem to be wearing anything, and was caked from head to toe in blood. Tears sprang into her eyes as she fought with the chains, then a shadow loomed over her. She looked behind and up quickly, and gasped as she met Haku's intense gaze. She looked back to the hurt and unconscious Haku, but saw that it was just a decayed corpse. She screamed and stumbled back away from it, right into Haku's chest. He grasped her shoulders, swinging her around, and slammed her again the wall next to the corpse, and chains out of no where yanked her feet and arms apart to a half-standing spread-eagle position. "Mine, Chihiro," he said, voice dripping with... evil? There was blood all over him, it wasn't his blood! "Hold still, Chihiro," he said. Haku raised a whip, ripping off her shirt, and brought it down with a SNAPCRACK! And Chihiro screamed harder and louder then she had ever screamed before... ***  
  
She was still screaming when her eyes snapped open, adrenaline pumping, and saw Haku's face above her (she didn't notice Rin as she was in panic-mode). This, of course, scared the bah-jeebers out of her since she was still foggy from her dream and couldn't tell if it was real or not, so, jerked away, ignoring the pain, placing her hands to his chest and sitting up, using him to push herself away slightly before stumbling to her feet. She was still screaming bloody murder as all of this happened, and managed to choke back and simply breathe heavily when her back slammed against the wall. She had not been paying attention to where she was going.  
  
~ "Mine, Chihiro."  
  
Blood dripping off his face, clothes, hands...  
  
"Hold still, Chihiro."  
  
Whip a hairsbreadth away from her pale skin... ~  
  
Chihiro screamed again, closing her eyes tightly and sliding down the wall, burying her head in her knees and clutching the back of it with her hands.  
  
~ She was falling through the ocean of blood, going up her nose, in her mouth, ears, eyes...  
  
"You belong to me, Chihiro."  
  
Being held where she was, kicking, struggling weakly, weaker, his smirking face above hers, loving the blood... ~  
  
Chihiro screamed again, louder. What was going on? Why wouldn't these flashes stop? Flashing in her mind. Finally, they did seem to stop, and she slowly became aware of somebody - two some bodies - holding her gently. Then she became aware of the snarling, ripping, white hot pain sneering its way around her brain and skull. Then she became aware of her stomach, which felt like it was in similar condition, her body ached all over.  
  
She fell forward and threw up.  
  
After that was done she just crouched there, hands clasping head, sobbing silently the pain was so great.  
  
At last, after what seemed like forever in which she was centimeters from wishing for death instead, the pain dulled to the simple thud of a headache, and her stomach resumed its simple clenchedness of a cramp, or something like it. her skin and muscles continued to tingle as though they had been asleep and were not happy with Chihiro because she had woken them up.  
  
Two hands were rubbing her back, two voices were murmuring softly, and slowly, even more slowly, she relaxed a little, tense muscles unclenching, lactic acid pouring through once more.  
  
Sluggishly, slowly, she was aware of her mouth being rinsed out, being wrapped up in a blanket, bundled, carried.  
  
"...Contagious..."  
  
"... Hurt her and die..."  
  
".... My room..."  
  
"... Visit her every day..."  
  
The voices slurred and swam before her, and Chihiro squeezed her eyes shut, still clutching her sweaty forehead, relaxing into whoever's grip held her.  
  
After what was DEFINITELY longer then simply "forever" she woke up from the realm between sleep and consciousness. Where you could just lie in darkness and relax, sleep without sleeping or having to bother with nightmares.  
  
It must have been dark out because the single window that was there spilled moonlight between the cracks of the gauzy blue curtains drawn over it. she didn't dare sit up or anything like that, past experiences taking their toll where they should have sooner.  
  
As far as she could tell, she was alone.  
  
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A/N: mm-kay, so, ya. whatever, if that was good or not, tell me, KK? It is YOUR job as a reader to (nicely) Constructively Criticize me! not that you absolutely HAVE to review. Of course. 


	3. Mysteries and Nights

A/N: You like? Aw, garsh, yur awl jus' sayin' that. =^_^=  
  
Disclaimer: I do NOT own. Got that? Get that? Yeah? Yeah.  
  
POV Three  
  
RIGHT AFTER THE LAST CHAPTER starting from the very next second.  
  
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Of course, one can assume one is alone and be far from alone. One would just need the exception to being alone a soft breather and half asleep, is all.  
  
In other words, Our Hero finally mustered up enough strength and courage to turn her head slightly.  
  
She was laying in a bed (Dur) in a room that was only vaguely familiar, partly on her side (keyword partly) looking at the wall and window. The blankets around her were heavy and soft, and she felt like she would sink right into the bottom of the bed and fall into a blissful sleep.  
  
Then she'd probably wake up in a cold sweat from more nightmares.  
  
Her back was up against something warm - not another wall? Small bed? Room?  
  
After a deep breath and a slight grimace, she shifted slightly, then rolled over. A moment of silent praise for one's self, open one's eyes... stifle a scream.  
  
She was NOT the only one in the bed.  
  
After a moment of rightly dished-out panic, she relaxed a little bit (keyword little) when her eyes got used to the dark and moonlight.  
  
Originally, she composed, she had most likely been sleeping with her back nestled up against Haku's chest.  
  
Go figure.  
  
Her movements hadn't awoken him, and he continued to breath lightly, eyes closed, eyebrows knitted together softly.  
  
This must have been his room. She remembered it now.  
  
Chihiro took in his appearance carefully, trying to figure out how she had gotten there at the same time.  
  
He was curled slightly, around her, and one arm was still drooped lightly over her waist. The other hand was bent up and balled into a fist, pressing against his mouth. Hair askew.  
  
A moment of nothing ensued. Had she come here, or had he brought her here? Would Rin have allowed that? Then again, everybody was pretty certain that Chihiro was completely Haku's responsibility.  
  
He shifted slightly and she froze, muscles tensing to an almost uncomfortable rate. There was a sudden scream somewhere in the bathhouse, a woman's scream, and it echoed off the walls, shattered glass, it was a scream!  
  
Chihiro jerked with a muffled scream herself and Haku's eyes snapped open. This, as expected, freaked Chihiro out as well, and she was on her feet in an instant.  
  
Then again, so was Haku.  
  
And the rest of the bathhouse for that matter.  
  
Except Chihiro's head started pounding immediately and she literally collapsed with a groan of pain.  
  
"Stay," Haku said, voice slightly thick as though he didn't seem to like being awake. He grabbed his white over-shirt thing (and the girls have those pink over shirt things too, right?) and threw it on, tying the blue sash around it as he pushed his door open (along with every other door) and stepped out, just finishing the knot.  
  
Chihiro could hear him shouting not to worry and to get back to bed, and eventually silence came after that.  
  
'Curiosity killed the cat,' Chihiro thought after some time for clutching her head. She slowly sat up a moment later, though, and cautiously dragged herself to her feet. She spent a moment looking around for a shirt that was hers, AND clean, but ended up settling for a small blanket anyway. She didn't plan on being caught, and anyway, she had her apron on.  
  
Each step she took was slow and carefully placed, thus, her going was slow. Her head stayed bowed, and she was slightly bent because her stomach certainly wasn't doing well either. One hand alternated between massaging a temple and clutching her stomach, and the other guided her along a wall, stairs, pretty far until she saw a small light and heard voices.  
  
It was in one of the tubs, the Big One (which was clean as of last week) and the flickering of a candle stained the wooden floor with the dancing flame light, three voices seemingly magnified in the dark silence of night.  
  
The first was Yubaba. Had to be.  
  
The second was the guy that hadn't wanted to let Chihiro in that part of the bathhouse.  
  
The third was unmistakably Haku.  
  
Chihiro didn't dare peering around the corner for fear of getting caught, but she crouched against one of the wall things next to it and listened in on the conversation.  
  
"... Sure? It could have been anything else, ah, ahb, Kaonashi or a shadow dancer..." The man was saying.  
  
"Are you questioning my authority?" Yubaba's voice cut in shrill and sent shivers down Chihiro's spine.  
  
"N- No ma'am! I was just questioning the possibilities of it being something else, was all!"  
  
"Shut up," came the growled reply. Then her voice changed dramatically from an ordering, scary one to a firm, almost angry one. "Haku, I want you to scout this place out and report to me in the morning, first sun rise, got that? Anybody that's out, the slightest foot print in the dust, you tell me."  
  
"Hai."  
  
"Good. And YOU, my fine friend, YOU will go around and make sure that nobody is awake or out walking around, you hear?"  
  
"Yes ma'am!"  
  
"Very good. What obedient little boys I have. And *I* will be going out. Get to work!"  
  
"Hai."  
  
"Yes, ma'am!"  
  
There was a momentary silence, then the man's voice slowly breathed out in a semi-sigh in relief.  
  
"Whew, scary woman, isn't she?" he asked, starting to come out. The candle light's circle came closer, and Chihiro panicked for a moment, then dived around behind into a different bath as the man left, continuing.  
  
"Need a candle?" he asked.  
  
"No. I'm fine."  
  
"Suit yourself." The man left, and she listened carefully to the sound of his feet, making sure that they were completely gone from that floor of the bathhouse completely. She closed her eyes, listening carefully. When everything was dark and silent again, she opened them once more and began to feel her way out, around the corner - and smack into somebody.  
  
"What are you doing?" a voice demanded. It took a moment for the words to trickle in one ear and filter out the other.  
  
"A, um, I, I was, uh, I came down, to, to get..." think Chihiro, think! "To get a glass of water!" she blurted out finally, voice higher than usual.  
  
She didn't think even a worm would have accepted or believed that answer.  
  
Haku didn't buy it either.  
  
Both hands gripped her shoulders tightly, and she flinched.  
  
"I told you to *stay*!" he hissed.  
  
"Oh, now I feel bad, bad girl!" she hissed right back, angry all of a sudden, and figuring that the blood circulation to her brain was being cut off by his death grip on her shoulders. His fingers tightened and began to hurt.  
  
She bit her lip, then wondered if it was her imagination that she was beginning to feel dizzy once more - more dizzier than usual, meant.  
  
"Sen, don't," he said, voice dropping to a dangerous notch two levels lower then before. "Push it. do you *have* a death wish? Or was leaving your parents here part of your master plan!"  
  
"Shut up!" she growled through her teeth. "None of this is my fault! And I want to know how I got in your room, and your bed!"  
  
"I took you there," he growled right back through his own teeth. His fingers felt as though they had punctured the thin blanket around her and she could feel their tips on her bare shoulders.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because you're very sick, and though the symptoms obviously aren't showing up at the moment you aren't any better."  
  
"So? I could've stayed with Rin-san!"  
  
"You're contagious, I have only just discovered - already two other slugs and a frog are being affected. They were easily enough cured with some medicine and recommended rest, when what happened but Rin came up and demanded to know what was wrong with you."  
  
"So give me the medicine and rest so I can find a way to save my parents."  
  
"It doesn't work that way, Chihiro. You humans are so weak, and you're frail enough in particular. The medicine is a drink, and it would poison and kill you, not make you any better. It works on spirits because they rarely if ever get sick, and there certainly hasn't been anything as bad as this."  
  
"Then make me better! Rin-san said it was probably that red berry I ate and YOU fed me! just what was it?"  
  
"The berry probably upset your stomach, but you already had a slight fever when you came, I'm guessing."  
  
"Then how do I get better? I have to save my parents!"  
  
"You're parents aren't going to drop dead any minute!" suddenly, his facial expression changed to a slightly more relaxed state, almost pity really, and his eyes softened. He jerked his hands away from her shoulders, which had gone numb without Chihiro noticing it, and she thought she saw out of the corner of her eye blood on his finger tips. This observation was proved true when sharp stings snapped at her brain, and she looked from one shoulder to the other, biting her lower lip as she (and Haku) realized his nails had cut all the way into her skin.  
  
Haku shook his head slightly and took her hand, giving her a gentle look, and carefully led her back to his room.  
  
He peeled off the blanket and put a burning sort of clover-smelling lotion thing on her shoulders, and she let him rub it in.  
  
"Just rest," He said softly, pushing her down. "And try not to piss me off again." His expression flickered. "Sometimes I don't know what I do when that happens, and I don't want to hurt you. just rest."  
  
"When you get angry you can't control yourself?"  
  
"When some sort of major emotion shows up I guess I lose track..." he seemed to snap, literally, back into neutrality. "Sleep. You'll feel even worse in the morning, I'm going to have to tell you that now." He drew the covers over her before she could resist and kissed her forehead before leaving, closing the door firmly behind him.  
  
Chihiro just laid there for a moment.  
  
'Did he just kiss me?' she thought, somewhat in a daze.  
  
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When she woke up the next morning, Haku's warning about her feeling worse proved true, and she ended up in her usual position of curled up in a tiny ball, clutching her pounding head.  
  
"What have I got? Some sort of Flu virus?" she asked softly, voice squeaking softly into the silent, empty room.  
  
After a while, she felt a little better, better enough to roll over and sit up enough to take the cup of water next to the bed and drink something. For a while she just lay there, miserable.  
  
It felt around mid afternoon when anything happened. Haku came in, closing the door lightly behind him.  
  
"Hay," he said gently. He came over, a sort of bag thing - like a small delivery bag, slung around his shoulder. He helped Chihiro sit up, then dug around in his bag thing until he had a couple of leaves, a bluish purplish greenish grayish in color.  
  
"Burn these, the fumes will help," Haku told her, showing her how to use a candle to burn them and not burn anything else at the same time.  
  
"Is that all ya got in the bag?" Chihiro asked, voice still slightly squeaky, small, weak.  
  
"No. I just got back from something, I need to give to Yubaba," he frowned slightly, reaching out and putting a hand against her forehead. He shook his head, sighing, perplexed. "I can't figure out what you have."  
  
"Fells kind of like the bad case of the Flu," Chihiro said helpfully.  
  
He smiled a little. "May be." He said quietly. The burning leaves didn't give off a smell, but the invisible smoke made Haku dizzy - he wasn't contagiously ill, and too much of this stuff would get him just as bad as Chihiro, maybe even worse. They were poison to spirits. Chihiro was slightly aware of how she could breathe easier, but that was it.  
  
Suddenly, she thought of something.  
  
"Hey, Haku-sama?" she asked, "last night you said I was contagious. What's to stop you from getting what I've got?"  
  
"I've already got it," he said. "I've built up a slight immunity, so I'm not contagious myself."  
  
"But you still suffer the symptoms!"  
  
"Not really."  
  
She frowned. Her symptoms were... Stomach ache, dizziness, headache... was he suffering from those things right now? She watched him carefully as he stood up again and stretched. He was moving carefully - did that point out anything? She was feeling better - and the thick smell of the leaves was very comforting, and made her feel even better. She tested her strength, then slowly got to her feet.  
  
He watched her with an expression close to a mix of amusement and anger at her continuing defiance of his orders.  
  
"I think that YOU are the one that should be laid down and doctored," Chihiro said carefully. Now that all the blood had rushed from her head, she realized that she was very dizzy indeed.. slowly, her head began thumping in her temples again, and her stomach fluttered. She closed her eyes, grabbing the bedpost, and inhaled deeply through her nose and mouth. It helped. Those leaves really were a province.  
  
"Go back to sleep," he urged quietly. His voice seemed a little bit stuffy, as though he wasn't breathing through his nose. She opened then narrowed her eyes, squinting at him. His lips were parted slightly, and the rise and fall of his chest was much more audible.  
  
"You ARE sick!" she cried triumphantly, then immediately regretted it. her own voice echoed around her head, feeling shrill and gaining pitch in her ears. It took Chihiro a moment to realize she was back in his bed, with Haku pulling the covers over her.  
  
"I'm fine," he told her firmly yet gently, voice soft (BUT NOW she decided it seemed a bit croaky as well as stuffy, too). "Don't worry about me, worry about yourself. I can't wait on you for very long and you have a contract as well as job. We certainly don't want you getting eaten, right? Then everybody would be sick." He stood up fuller, and Chihiro saw he had been laying slightly on the bed post.  
  
"I need to go," he said, voice low. "Go back to sleep."  
  
"I can't sleep!" came the reply. Chihiro frowned. "And you aren't breathing the right way! Your voice sounds like you're holding your breath and talking at the same time, or at least trying to!"  
  
"Then you have sharp ears." Seeing as she wouldn't do anything he said until she got an explanation, he said, "The fumes from the leaves are poisonous, didn't I mention that before? To spirits, they could get one dead in a matter of a month. I'm no exception - They're supposed to be helping you breathe easier and get rid of anything contagious sooner. Seeing as I've already told you I'm not contagious, their poison is just washing through my veins right now and if I stay here any longer I might end up passing out and I'd rather not do that at the moment." As he said all of this without taking a breath, he grabbed his messenger bag thing and backed away toward the door. "Sayonara, Chihiro," he said softly, because he really hadn't been breathing in. he slipped out as quickly as he could, and Chihiro was suddenly aware that there was something blocking the cracks of the door and window.  
  
He had just risked poisoning himself for her own comfort. How sweet of him!  
  
Chihiro sighed, head resting in the smothering softness of the pillow. She hoped he was okay.  
  
Eventually, the burning leaves made her drowsy, and she joyfully welcomed the blackness of a nice heavy sleep.  
  
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A/N: ya, so, beat me up, flame me, whatever. 


	4. Painful Healing

A/N: here's yet another chapty-wapty! And dude, Chihiro's dreams... ya know, she was just thrown into this world, her parents are pigs, hello-o, are any of you comprehending this here? She is so, like, terrified right now - admit it, you would be too - and her terrifiedness includes Haku. The Dreams also have another purpose, too, ya? ya. and I'm thinking about making this AU even more AU-y. coz Chihiro is only ten, right? Right. Then what's the whole romance point, eh? She should be thirteen at the least. Or twelve. Or fourteen. Ya? Ya know? Anyhoot, I'm certain all you dudes and dudettes agree with me. THEREFORE I want you to tell me if the AU thing (I mean, the even MORE AU part about her age) is good idea, yes? And tell me which age. Because I can't just announce that Chihiro is automatically this many years older, right? I mean, I can, but you know... either way, she's going to be spending Some Time there, in the Spirit World, her parents, yadda, yadda, yadda, ya? ya. so YOU tell me THREE things when you review, and DON'T FORGET!!!  
  
A) should I just automatically announce Chihiro is this many years older, or should I have her stay there at the Bathhouse until she is a certain age?  
  
B) What age should she be? Not, you know, like thirty, twenty, etc., because I'm not sure if pigs are, you know, live that long.  
  
C) I'm just curious - what do you think Chihiro has? Illness? Nerves? What? WHAT??!? ~_^ I want to know what my readers are thinking! Originally, I was gonna have her have a moderate fever in the first place, but her parents gave her some medication to push it down before they left, then Haku food-poisoned her (by accident!!) and she's scared beyond all belief.... But what do YOU think? *skips off singing*  
  
Disclaimer: no own.  
  
Three POV  
  
Not necessarily RIGHT after the last chapter... More like, say, around twenty minutes later. Haku has delivered his "thing" or whatever it was he got to his employer (a.k.a. Yubaba) and, for those of you that are curious, it was a whole lotta money! Wee! Okay. And don't you just love his little old fashioned carrier bag thing? I think he would just look so cute with it on! I drawed a fanart, but all of my drawings of Haku look like Ken from Digimon for some reason... *sweatdrop*  
  
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"Not bad," Yubaba said, after inspecting the contents of the bag he had given her. "You've done exceptionally well this time, Little Dragon-Boy." She frowned at him across her desk, standing slightly rigid with that little messenger bag strapped across his chest. He gripped the strap tightly with one white-knuckled sweating hand.  
  
"But there's something up with you, Boy. Tell me, what is it?"  
  
"Nothing," Haku said defensively, then immediately cursed himself. So far he had managed to avoid talking to her other than a quiet nod or two and when speaking in a louder, somewhat clearer voice, he knew - knew! - that she knew something was wrong.  
  
"I don't believe that," she told him carefully, stating the obvious as she narrowed her eyes at him from across the desk. "Tell me the truth, now, before I force it out of you."  
  
"... That was the truth. Nothing is wrong with me." His voice shook, and it sounded rather weaker than the fore "nothing" had. He was struggling slightly to breathe - he had inhaled too much of the fumes. He cursed himself again. Why hadn't Chihiro been asleep when he had walked in? why had he started burning the leaves immediately? And where was he going to sleep? The leaves needed to be burning or at least smoldering all night long.  
  
He had been counting on Yubaba to give him an all-nighter job.  
  
Instead, she just leaned forward and her eyes were now dangerous slits. She lifted a hand, once more opening her eyes fully. She smiled sickly sweet at him.  
  
"So be it, Little Dragon Boy," she said. "I'll have to force it out of you. how long can you last against my spell, I wonder? Last time it was a record- breaking thirty-five minutes." She opened her palm wide, facing him, and he tensed every muscle, trying to throw up a shield of some time to stop her attack.  
  
He did, but not in time. So instead of repelling her spell away from him, he trapped it inside. Immediately, every little thing she had taught him rushed through his mind, and he bit both lips, knowing what it was; a truth spell. It'd make him tell her whatever she wanted. The only upsides were that he was naturally good at fighting it and that she could only ask one question, then the spell would wear away.  
  
He shut his eyes, and when he opened them again he was on his knees, shaking, both hands gripping thr front strap of his carrier-bag, and he just gave up. He was wasting too much energy.  
  
"I inhaled some poisonous fumes," he blurted out, "that are supposed to help the Human."  
  
The spell wore off. He gasped in relief, falling forward onto the floor, palms sweating so hard he almost slipped and landed face-first on the carpet.  
  
"The Human?" his employer asked, momentarily confused. "Oh, yeah, that one; I remember. What, is she sick?"  
  
"Yes, Yubaba-sama."  
  
"You're supposed to be taking care of her."  
  
"I think she was a little ill before she got here, and the food in this world only made it worse."  
  
"What are her symptoms?"  
  
Haku pushed himself up, still shaking slightly. "Dizziness, headaches, stomach pains, tense muscles, sweating heavily, clammy skin other than her face, high fever, flushed cheeks and forehead," he ticked them off, lifting his chin and staring at the ceiling slightly, as though all the answers to the world could be found there. "Hoarse voice... she thinks she has some sort of human virus called Influenza or something of that sort. I'm not so sure." He wasn't about to outright admit he had no idea what to do.  
  
Yubaba frowned at him.  
  
He frowned right back, still breathing somewhat heavily.  
  
"You must remember how very frail Humans are, especially their children," she chided softly. Dangerously.  
  
He ran all possibly sarcastic and smart-remarks through his head, each one sure to get him in more than just a little bit of trouble.  
  
Haku decided not to answer.  
  
Yubaba, of course, took this as impudence.  
  
"Well, now you're stuck with her, so I suggest you get someway to keep yourself from breathing in those fumes, and don't let them all over the bathhouse. Sen has a contract, signed, and if she doesn't keep with it..."  
  
"... I'll be responsible," he finished lamely. "I know."  
  
"Yes. And have you considered what punishments you'll get? Ill, injured, or dead even, you'll have to live them out?"  
  
He bit back a not only ironic but sarcastic comment to that one. "No, I have not, Yubaba-sama."  
  
She leaned forward. "I suggest you cure your little human, Little Dragon Boy, soon - very, very soon."  
  
He fought a shudder. "Hai, Yubaba-sama."  
  
"Good. Now, I want you to supervise the bathhouse for the rest of today, got that? I'll send what's-his-name down to take over when it starts to get dark."  
  
"......... Hai, Yubaba-sama."  
  
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When Chihiro woke up again, she gasped, hands flying to her chest. It felt as though it were constricting, caving in on itself, trying to pull apart, stretching, squishing up against her ribs, painfully, painfully... She gasped again, a small "Gyah!" and then an even tinier "Help!" along with her breathy response to the growing pain in her chest. Her throat was hoarse. She turned her head and saw the leaves had all burned out. Unconsciously, she reached out to the still burning candle, and managed to force her quaking hand to nudge a leave into the flame. She watched it as she felt her air passageways begin closing.  
  
Tears streaked down her face.  
  
She closed her eyes, praying it would be over soon.  
  
It wasn't.  
  
She began to breathe easier, after what felt like forever, and opened her eyes again. Seeing the leaf half-burned, she immediately sat straight up and grabbed a few more leaves, putting them on the candle as well. Then, seeing as the candle was so small and smothering as well, she grabbed a new one and lit it.  
  
Proud of herself, she looked over her handiwork.  
  
Then promptly gave a muffled scream and collapsed on the pillow, first clutching her head, digging fingernails into skin as the pain threatened her very life it seemed. More tears cascaded down her face, and she let out a few choked sobs. Finally, it was once more a simple thud thudding rhythmically in her temples, then - as though it had been waiting for her headache to come and then relieve itself slightly - her stomach slammed against her skin, it felt like, wanting to tear itself apart.  
  
She didn't notice the door open, or the tiny gasp, until it felt as though the pain all over her body had finally subsided. Slowly, she tipped her head up on the sweat-soaked pillow and stared, trying to focus her eyes. Rin sat next to her, frowning worriedly, rubbing her shoulder. A tight cloth was around her nose and mouth. It took Chihiro a moment to figure out why.  
  
The leaves. Haku had said they were poisonous.  
  
"What?" she croaked, but Rin shushed her.  
  
"It's okay, Sen-san. I'm here, don't worry."  
  
"But you have to get out, you'll be poisoned!"  
  
"That's what I have this cloth on for, right? Haku warned me about these fumes. I came to visit you and make sure he isn't making your life worse."  
  
"My relationship with Haku-sama is rather stretched, if that's what you mean. He hasn't really done anything bad to me." Chihiro flexed her shoulder muscles slightly. "I hurt all over. I want Okaasan and Otousan."  
  
"I'm sorry, Sen," Rin told her sympathetically.  
  
Chihiro ended up falling asleep again under Rin's watchful gaze and comforting presence.  
  
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When she woke up again, it was dark... late into the night. It took her a moment to figure out why she had woken up...  
  
"Gyahrragh!" she hissed through her teeth, curling into a tight ball, arms clutching her chest, her heart and lungs both trying to rip themselves apart, pushing painfully against each other, almost breaking her ribcage, constricting, out, in, pain, painfully, couldn't breathe... then her entire muscle structure, it seemed, tightened up, and she twitched slightly with each painful beat of her struggling heart. Being able to focus on only one aspect of pain, she didn't necessarily notice the shards of white hot pain slamming into and out of her diaphragm, and she was currently unable to throw up, which was what her stomach wanted to do.  
  
It seemed to last forever, and there must have been an entire river constructed from her tears by now. She found herself wishing, hoping almost, for death, or unconsciousness, anything, anything to escape this pain...  
  
Something wasn't letting her though. An intense hotness in her mouth, on her tongue.  
  
She swallowed reflexively.  
  
The first to fade was the pain in her heart, lungs, neck, chest. They were soon a simple thumping of soreness. Her muscles relaxed somewhat (that lactose acid would cause cramps for sure) and the thudding in her temples became known at last. She gripped her head tightly, nails digging into her own flesh, until the thumping in her brain also became a sore thud, simple. She clutched her stomach momentarily, thanking everything and all that the sharp stinging pain she felt there only lasted a second, then she gasped, groaned, rolled over, came halfway off the bed, and threw up.  
  
The thudding in her head did not stop. The aching of her stomach - upper and lower - did not stop. Her muscles were extremely sore. She was shaking as though she had hypothermia. Tears still leaked from her eyes. She could literally feel each slow, hard, and deliberate thump of her heart, which also ached considerably. Her lungs burned, as did her throat, struggling to access oxygen soon enough.  
  
She just lay where she was for a while that seemed like forever, the only other thing other than the pain and aching and soreness in her body that she could access was a strange ringing in her ears. She shook terribly, racking her small, thin frame. She was drenched in sweat. Her eyes hurt, all of the muscles in her face hurt, and any part of her that wasn't completely soaked in sweat was soaked in tears. Chihiro couldn't tell if they were still streaking down her cheeks or not.  
  
Eventually, the aching began to slow, and the pain evaporated, being replaced by even harder shivers and a huge feeling of numbness. Dizziness took over, and when she fell back gently, slowly, on her back on the bed, it felt as though she was spinning out of control, falling into the sky. the room, or what she could see in the dark out of her blurred eyes, was warping and twisting around.  
  
Finally, blissful unconsciousness took over.  
  
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She woke up from yet another nightmare. Yet this one, she couldn't remember for some reason.  
  
The light feeling of those burning leaves left her feeling much better, but she was well aware of how much she needed a bath. She tried not to think about last night. Instead, she blinked, and tensed then relaxed each muscle, testing her body. She was extremely sore all over, but that seemed to be it.  
  
Even her head had lessened to an almost ignorable ache. Dull. She blinked her eyes, and waited patiently for her vision to clear. when it finally did, she tensed first, then relaxed slightly.  
  
She was on her back, tangled up in the sheets, head tipped slightly to the side. a cool, wet cloth was on her forehead, and she appreciated it greatly. There weren't any leaves burning.  
  
Haku was sprawled next to her, head buried in arms.  
  
That was the reason she had tensed up.  
  
He looked to be unconscious.  
  
That was the reason she had relaxed.  
  
Sun shown through, and she closed her eyes.  
  
When Chihiro felt better then she had before in quite a while, she slowly sat up, caressing her temples. They thudded stronger now, but that was it. not even her stomach ache bothered her.  
  
Carefully, she got up and slipped over Haku, standing up on the floor (which was clean, she noticed) and holding the side of the bed for support. She almost collapsed; her muscles were very weak.  
  
Weaker than she had expected. Her movements woke Haku up.  
  
"Feeling better?" he asked, sitting up - Chihiro couldn't help but notice that he seemed cute, almost childish even, sitting like that, hair all messed up.  
  
THEN she noticed something else: Haku didn't look too good.  
  
"I'm a little weak," Chihiro said softly, voice hoarse.  
  
"That's good," Haku said. "I was afraid you might not have woken up last night."  
  
"Eh? Do you know what happened?"  
  
"Developed a dependency on the leaves - it happened so fast. Way too fast, seriously. I figured you wouldn't start physically relying on them for a few weeks, but in just a few hours, apparently..." he trailed off for a moment. "When you weren't breathing the fumes anymore, your body seized up, because of chemical response - it'd be like having your lungs pulled out. I'll admit you scared me; not really, but enough to keep me from thinking straight, and I gave you a leaf, had you eat it." he paused again. "It should have killed you. Looks like you've pulled through, though."  
  
Chihiro fell (not literally) away into thought, mulling over things. A chemical reaction? Like, she had been addicted to the leaves? Eew. That burning on her tongue... that must have been the leaf he made her eat. And Chihiro was well-aware that one like Haku would have to be PRETTY freaked out to stop thinking straight. She stared as hard as she could into his olive-green eyes, trying to figure it out.  
  
"Haku-sama," a male voice called. "Yubaba wants to see you."  
  
"Hai," Haku called back, almost literally stumbling to his feet and running a hand through his hair. "Stay here," he ordered, and Chihiro decided on three things; one, Haku looked extremely tired; two, Haku looked like he was hot and uncomfortable; three, there was a slight flush on his rather abnormally pale cheeks. He danced around for a minute, throwing a blue long- sleeved shirt on and the white one over it. he tied a sash quickly, and headed towards the door, running a hand through his hair again, except more to straighten it out this time.  
  
"W- wait! When are you coming back? I feel better!"  
  
Too late. he was already gone.  
  
Chihiro sat there for a while before laying back down on the bed. She managed to sleep off and on for a little while, but was wide-awake by the time noon rolled around. Or, the sun shone brightly through the window. "I want to see Okaasan and Otousan," she said to herself softly, exercising her voice.  
  
Right then, there was a light knock on the door, and Rin entered.  
  
"Rin-san!" Chihiro cried, feeling a wave of relief wash over her. She got to her feet, stumbled, and managed to make it over to Rin before Rin could make it to her.  
  
"Sen! You're okay...? Maybe you should lay down. I guess Haku wasn't lieing." She ushered Chihiro back to the bed and made her sit down at least.  
  
"What'd he tell you?"  
  
"That you were feeling better, and if I could feed you for him. He looked like he was in a hurry - I wonder what he was doing that was so important? But what's in the main focus now is you." Rin smiled, sitting next to her. She felt her forehead. "You still have a fever," she announced, "but you must be hungry too."  
  
"I am!" Chihiro cried immediately. She redid her ponytail. She thought a moment. "Anou, Rin-san? Do you have any human food here?"  
  
"I don't know..." Rin frowned lightly. "What does human food look like? Maybe we do."  
  
"Well, some human food, like dumplings, and rice balls, and sushi, then there's other kinds of human food, like mien chow, or pasta, salad, it's a lot like the stuff here, except different I think." Her throat began to hurt. She clammed up.  
  
"Oh." Rin brightened up. "We have plenty of that stuff here. Like the dumplings and rice balls? Will some of those work? I think I can get you whatever you want since I'm acting on-" Rin wrinkled her nose "-------Haku- sama's orders."  
  
"They might work. I'd like to see them first, though, if that's okay."  
  
"Duh." Rin grinned again. "You just lay here, I'll be right back." She stood up and began making her way to the door.  
  
"Rin-san!" Chihiro called. "Wait! Wait, what am I going to do, I mean, how long will you be gone?"  
  
"Not long," Rin said distractedly, and closed the door behind her. Chihiro listened to her footsteps fade away, then sighed and felt her forehead. "I don't think I have a fever," she muttered, more to herself. Either way, she laid down again.  
  
True to her word, Rin didn't take very long. If an hour or so wasn't considered long. She said something about uncooperative idiots, but all the same Chihiro began to feel better after some rice balls and a lot of water. Rin said she was dehydrated.  
  
Chihiro ended up falling asleep again, Rin's comforting voice guiding her to the realm of dreams.  
  
Her dreams weren't so comforting.  
  
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A/N: see? I made that chapter long. *sighs* I'm sorry it took so long to get out. 


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